fered to buy, or exchange for another piece of ground, tending to make an herb-garden of it for his houfe; but, it was reckoned fcandalous to fell an inheritance, Naboth as uncourteous enough to refufe the offer. Jezebel was quainted with it; and, at once to procure the vineyard, id to punish Naboth for his refufal, fhe fent a letter to e elders of Jezreel, fealed with the king's fignet, comlanding them to proclaim a fast, and to hire fome loose llows to fwear blafphemy and treason against him, and en to ftone him to death for it. The Jezreelites, not aring to disobey her orders, fent her word foon after of Naboth's death; and fhe acquainted Ahab with it: but, hilft he was taking poffeffion of the ground, the prophet Elijah came to him from GOD, foretold the deftructioon at this murder would bring upon him, upon Jezebel, and pon his whole houfe; that the dogs fhould lick his blood here they licked that of Naboth; and Jezebel fhould be evoured by dogs, and all his pofterity utterly cut off. his dreadful fentence, from fo confiderable a prophet, fo armed the king, that he rent his cloaths, returned home led with the deepeft grief, and, by a timely repetance, tained a gracious refpite; fo that the calamities, that ere to fall upon his house, did not happen till after his eath (H). (H) It is probably about is time that he is fuppofed to ave made his fon Ahaziah coartner of his crown, or, peraps, only his viceroy, whilft e humbled himself in fackloth and ashes, to avoid the mpending judgment of GOD 4); though this change was ut fhort-lived, and he foon eturned to his former imieties. At leaft, this is the nly expedient, by which chroologifts can reconcile the anahronisms, which are met with etween the books of Kings nd Chronicles; the one beinning their reign from the (4) 1 Kings xxi, 17, & feq. ALL death of their fathers, and the other from the time of their being raised to a partnership with them. The reader may fee an instance of it proved in archbishop Uber's annals (5), both in Ahab above-mentioned, and in his cotemporary Jebohaphat, who raised alfo his fon Jehoram to be his viceroy, or partner. It may be further observed, that this method became very expedient, if not abfolutely neceffary, in dangerous wars, in which the kings ufed to lead their own armies, and often loft their lives, to appoint their fucceffors, and to (s) Sub A. M. 3106. Ahab's ALL this while Jehoshaphat had enjoyed a profo peace, and spent his time partly in ftrengthening his k dom, promoting his naval trade, and partly in making the proper regulations for the utter abolishing of idola and promoting the worship of GOD. He is blamed :: for two things; his not totally demolishing the h places, and his making alliances and affinity with Abai It was in confequence of this laft, that he came dow Samaria to pay a vifit to him, having left the care his kingdom to his fon Feberam. By this time, ¿ had refolved upon retaking of Rameth-Gilead from: Syrians he took therefore that opportunity of asking: royal guest to affift him in the enterprize; to which readily confented; but defired first of all, that God m be confulted concerning the fuccefs of that expediti Ahab immediately gathered 400 of his prophets to t expedition gate of Samaria, where the king of Judah and he f against each on a ftately throne; and, upon his afking the que Ramoth. ftion, they one and all promised him, that he would com off victorious; but they did it with fuch feeming eager ness and assurance, as rendered them suspected to febr Shaphat, who therefo e begged, that if there were an other prophet of the LORD, he might be sent for, an consulted. There was indeed such an one as he defire Micaiah the fon of Imlah; but his known veracity ha made him too odious to the king: however, he w obliged, in complaisance to Jehoshaphat, to fend for hir and he, being before acquainted with the flattering pr mifes of the falfe prophets, did likewise answer, in jocofe tone, that the expedition could not fail of fucces but the king, obferving that he did not speak seriou adjured him to tell him the truth in the name of Go upon which Micaiah told him, that he would certain lofe the day, with his life; that his army would be a feated; and that God had fuffered his prophets to be p feffed with a lying fpirit, that he might go and meet leave them vicegerents of the Athaliab the daughter of A (I) This affinity was in fuffering his fon Jeboram to marry dea ath where he expected a victory. The king, however, as fo far from being deterred by this fpeech, that he ran folutely upon his own ruin; and Fehoshaphat, being too fily perfuaded to accompany him, narrowly escaped aring in the fame fate: we have seen the ill fuccefs of is expedition in a former chapter P. Ahab, wounded by random fhot, died in the evening; and, as foon as his His ill ath was known, his generals caused a retreat to be found- fuccefs through his army, and both fides withdrew before and death. ght. The king's corpfe was brought to Samaria, and Year of ried in the royal fepulcre; and his bloody armour, hariot, and harness, were brought to a pool in that place be washed, where the dogs coming to lick his blood, erified Elijah's prophecy against him 9. JEHOSHAPHAT, on the other hand, having thus hapy escaped, returned to Jerufalem; and, in the way, as met by the prophet Jehu, who reproved him in the wereft terms for entering into a confederacy with the pious king of Ifrael; and the king, become fenfible of s error by his late danger, endeavoured to retrieve it by more affiduous application to every thing that related ther to religion, or the good of his kingdom. To do is the more effectually, he took a progrefs through a eat part of it; diligently examined how the priests inFucted the people, the judges and magiftrates adminiftred ftice; and every-where exhorted them to their duty, ith a zeal worthy fo good a prince '. the flood 1451. Bef. Chr. 897. 896. In the mean time Ahaziah, who had fucceeded his fa- Year of er Ahab both in his kingdom and idolatry, happened to the flood Il through a grate of his dining-room, about the fecond 1452. ear of his reign; and was fo hurt by the fall, that his life Bef. Chrift as defpaired of. In this extremity he fent meffengers to onfult Beelzebub, the deity of Ekron, about his recory; but these were met by Elijah, who sent them back ith this mournful meffage, that, fince he had fent to e god of Ekran, as if there had been none in Ifrael orth confulting, he fhould never ftir more from his ed, till he was carried to his grave. At their return, they :quainted the king, who was furprised at the fuddennefs f it, that they had met a prophet, who fent them back with a sentence of death from the LORD; and, upon eir defcribing him, that he was an hairy man, girt with leathern girdle, he knew him to be Elijah, and died foon fter, according to his prophecy's. During his fhort P See before, vol. ii. p. 306, & feq. 91 Kings ult. paff. 2 Chron. xix. per tot. • 2 Kings i. paff. Judah invaded. reign, the Moabites, who had been tributaries to ever fince Jeroboam's defection, rebelled against wherefore, when his brother Fehoram came to the c he fent to beg Jehoshaphat's affiftance; who mad fcruple, upon fuch an occafion, to go in perfon, an to reduce them. It was well for Jeboram, that he good a prince with him; for, when the army was to perifh with thirft, Elisha, at his request, obtai miraculous supply of water, which at once refreshe confederate army, and, by the redness it caft at funtowards the Midianitish hoft, so terrified them, that gained a complete victory over them, as we have elsewhere '. AT length, towards the latter end of his reign, fhaphat faw his kingdom invaded by the Ammonites Moabites, with a mixed multitude of other nations, with fuch speed, that they were already got as far as zazon-Tamar, or Engedi, that is, within thirty-fix m of his capital, before he knew any thing of it. In this f prize, he had recourfe to GOD, proclaimed a ftrict and neral faft, and went at the head of the people, who we affembled at Jerusalem upon that occafion, to the temple where, having implored the divine affiftance in an humbl and pathetic prayer, he was anfwered by the prophet Fa ziel, that GOD would fpeedily delvier him from those vaders in fuch an extraordinary manner, that he should h Jehofha- nothing to do but feize upon their fpoil. According phat's mi- the next morning, the king went out against them wit raculous fmall army, whom he ftill encouraged, as they went Success. to rely wholly upon GOD; but they foon beheld t which did it more effectually, their enemies, seized wit kind of panic phrenfy, flaughtering each other greater fury than themselves could have done, till were all cut off. The plunder they found among flain, being more than they could well carry, they picked out the richeft, which they were three days ing thering "; and, on the fourth, they halted at a com nient valley, to return thanks to Heaven for their victo and from that day the place was called the valley of B kah, or bleffing. The army, in their return to Jen lem, marched, at the found of musical instruments, aco u Ibid. p. See before, vol. ii. p. 135, & feq. & feq. & 177, & feq. not. (G). * De hac vide vol. ii. p. 411, рапів nied with canticles fung by Levites; after which Jehoaphat ended his days in peace (L). t JEHORAM, who, as we obferved before, had borne a Year of 889. are in the government of Judah towards the latter end the flood his father's reign, no fooner faw himself alone upon the 1459rone, than he began to undo all that his pious father had Bef. Chr. ne, and to bring upon himself, and his house, all the curfes at had been pronounced against that of his father-in-law. udah and Ifrael feem now but one kingdom, and one Judah and ene of all manner of idolatry and wickedness: they were Ifrael imoth governed by kings of the fame name; Jehoram king mersed in Judah is influenced by his wife Athaliah, the impious idolatry. aughter of Ahab; and Fehoram king of Ifrael by his moer Jezebel: this walks in all the abominations of his faer; and that introduces them into his own kingdom, after ey had been abolished by his two predeceffors; both bringg down the heaviest judgments from Heaven, the one forfaking the ways of his pious father, and the other by ntinuing in those of his impious one (M). t 2 Chron. xx. I, & feq. ad 30. (M) What was still more furprifing, whilft the king of Ifrael endeavoured fo far to reform from him, as to destroy the Phanician idols, which Abab had reared up, and contented himself with the idolatrous worfhip of the two golden calves (9), that of Judah was adopting thofe very deities in his kingdom, and even in Jerufalem (1). Thus, whilft the former forfook the GoD of Ifrael, and the other did but imperfectly return to him, both were involved in the fame guilt, and in the fame punishment; with this difference, however, that that of Ifrael is intirely cut off, with his whole pofterity, whereas, in that of Judah, an infant is miraculously preferved, to make good God's promise to the house of David. (L) Some time before his 32 Chron, xxi, II. JEHO |